Romania

Of all the birds the crow is considered the ugliest, especially its
young fledglings. The legend tells that sometime after God had created all
the living beings, he called everyone to see them and their offspring. He
wanted to see how the young birds and animals looked, and then to give
them suitable gifts, and food for their little ones.

They came one by one, and God looked at them, patted some and stroked
others, and was very pleased with every one of them, for each one had
something of beauty in it. And so he blessed them and gave them food by
which to live. The last to come was the crow, bringing her little brood
with her, very proud of them.

When God cast his eyes upon the young crows, he spat in astonishment,
and said, "Surely these are not my creatures. I could not have made such
ugly things. Every one of my creatures has such beautiful young ones that
they are a pleasure to look at, but yours are so ugly that it makes one
sick to look at them. Where did you get this one?"

"Where should I get them from?" replied the crow. "It is my very own
young child," she added with pride.

"You had better go back and bring me another one. This is much too
ugly. I cannot look at it."

Annoyed at the words of God, the crow went away and flew all over the
earth to search for another young one that would be more beautiful than
the one she had brought to God. But no other young bird appeared so
beautiful in her eyes as her own. So she returned back to God and said, "I
have been all over the world, and I have searched high and low, but young
birds more beautiful and more dainty than mine I have not been able to
find."

Then God smilingly replied, "Quite right. Just so are all mothers. No
other child is so beautiful in their eyes as their own."

Then he blessed the little crows and sent them away into the world with
his gifts.

Romania

The crow was in very great distress, for however she tried and whatever
she did, she could not rear a family. No sooner were the young hatched,
than the hawk would come and pick them up. In vain did she try to hide her
nest in the hollows of a tree or in the thickets of a bush. As sure as
death would the hawk find them and eat them.

Not knowing what to do, she bethought herself and said, "How would it
do if I try and get the hawk to be godmother? For then, being a near
relation, she is sure to spare my little ones."

Said and done. She went out of her place to search for the hawk, and
finding her, she said, "Good morning, sister."

"Good morning," replied the hawk.

"How pleased I should feel," said the crow, "if you would become
godmother to my children."

"With pleasure," replied the hawk. "Why not?" And so they made up a
covenant of friendship and of good fellowship between them.

Before leaving the hawk, the crow said to her, "Now, sister, I have one
request to make."

"Granted," replied the hawk. "What is it?"

"I only beg of you to spare my children. Do not eat them when you have
found them."

"All right," replied the hawk. "I shall certainly not touch them. But
tell me how they look, so that in case I meet them, I may spare them."

"Oh," replied the crow, "mine are the most beautiful creatures in the
world. They are more lovely than any other bird can boast of."

"Very well. Rest assured. Go in peace." And they parted.

The crow, being quite satisfied with the hawk's promise, began flying
about the next day trying to find something with which to feed her
children. The hawk the next morning went about her own business and tried
to find some nice little young ones to eat. Flying about, she saw the
young ones of the thrush, the blackbird, and of other beautiful birds, and
she said to herself, "Surely these are the children of the crow. Look how
lovely and beautiful they are. I am not going to touch them."

She went all day without finding any little birds but these. And she
said to herself, "I must keep my word to my sister. I am not going to
touch them." And she went to bed hungry. The next day the same thing
happened, and still the hawk kept her word and would not touch them.

On the third day she was so hungry that she could scarcely see out of
her eyes. Roaming about, the hawk suddenly lighted upon the nest of the
crow. Seeing the little, miserable, ugly things in the nest, the hawk at
first would not touch them, although she never dreamt that these ugly
things were the children of the crow, so much praised by her for their
beauty, and thought they must belong to some hideous bird. But what is one
to do when one is hungry? One eats what one gets, and not finding anything
better, she sat down and gobbled them up one by one, and then flew
away.

Not long after the hawk had left, the crow came in, feeling sure this
time to find her little ones unhurt. But how great was her dismay when she
found the nest empty! First she thought the little birds had tried their
wings and were flying about in the neighborhood, and she went in search of
them. Not finding them, she began to be a little more anxious, and hunting
a little more closely, found on the ground near some rushes some tufts of
feathers with little bones and blood. She knew at once that the hawk had
again been there, feeding on her children.

Full of wrath and fury, she went to find the hawk. Meeting her, she
said, "A nice sister and godmother you are! After you had promised most
faithfully not to touch my children, no sooner had I turned my back on
them, then you come again and eat them."

"I do not understand what you are saying," replied the hawk. "It is
your own fault. You told me your children were the most beautiful in the
world, and those which I have eaten were monsters of hideousness. If I had
not felt the pinch of hunger so strong, I would not have touched them, not
for anything, such ugly things they were! They nearly made me sick."

"Is that the way you keep your promise?" replied the angry crow. "After
having eaten them, you even have the impudence to tell lies and insult me.
Off with you! And woe betide you if I ever catch you, I will teach you to
behave properly."

From that day on, the hawk, if it gets near the crows, attacks them.
And from that day on there is implacable hatred between the crows and the
hawks.

France

The eagle and the owl entered into a treaty with one another, each
taking a solemn oath that neither would ever harm the chicks of the other.
"But do you know what my chicks look like?" asked the mother
owl, fearing that the eagle might attack them by mistake.

"No," said the eagle. "Describe them, so that I will
know to spare them."

"They cannot be mistaken for any other bird," returned the
proud mother owl. "They are small and ever so beautiful, by far the
prettiest of any baby bird."

One evening, while scouting for food, the eagle came upon a nest filled
with screeching baby birds. "Surely these do not belong to my
friend, the owl," said the eagle. "No, for hers are things of
great beauty, but these are hideous, ugly creatures." And he swept
down and devoured them every one.

Returning to her nest, the mother owl found only the feet of her
offspring. "How can the eagle have violated our bond?" she
asked herself in grief. Did he not hear me describe my little ones as the
most beautiful chicks of all?

Moral: Every mother thinks that her own children are the
prettiest of all.

Aesop

Jupiter issued a proclamation to all the beasts, and offered a prize to
the one who, in his judgment, produced the most beautiful offspring. Among
the rest came the monkey, carrying a baby monkey in her arms, a hairless,
flat-nosed little fright. When they saw it, the gods all burst into peal
on peal of laughter. But the monkey hugged her little one to her, and
said, "Jupiter may give the prize to whomsoever he likes. But I shall
always think my baby the most beautiful of them all."